I'm not a fan of his last two albums. Some good songs, but I don't find it holds the same power as all his other material (I'm not a big fan of "Ladies' Man" or "Various Positions" either, but think everything else is a masterpiece). I enjoy how mellow the new music is but can't force myself to like it.

"Dear child, I only did to you what the sparrow
did to you; I am old when it is fashionable to be
young; I cry when it is fashionable to laugh."

I bought this in 2001 when it came out, and listened regularly, but don't think I really absorbed the last half of the album. I do love 1000 Kisses, That Don't Make it Junk, Here it is, and Secret Life.

I am into keyboards/synthesizers, etc., but there are some times when they do detract from these songs for me. Especially after hearing them live... I LOVE the arrangement from Live in London. They're similar, but, the live band give them more feel.

I'll report once I've sat with this again... with 8 more years to appreciate it under my belt.

Will wrote:sorry everyone, but ten new songs isn't any good. and neither is death of a ladies man
will

Since you made such a compelling argument, I'll listen to you. You seem to speak the truth. Nevermind the fact that I really enjoy DOALM and the lyrics of Ten New Songs, your well written and enlightening post has shown me the error of my ways.

bruinsy19 wrote:Ten New Songs is extraordinary,his finest album in my opinion.

I, too, love this album, and I think it certainly equals his best. As others have noted, it is exquisite late-night listening, so deep and calm and beautiful. It puts me in the perfect mood to go to sleep with a happy smile on my face, after absorbing Leonard's wonderful poetry, the smooth velvety tones of his voice, and the understated and mellow musical accompaniment. It is perfection.

It is also the perfect remedy for a bad and stressful day! Try it (if you haven't already)!

I liked this album from the start, and as I listen to it more, I find myself LOVING it (more & more), and realizing how brilliant it really is; it's actually alot more complex, meditative, and darker than I originally thought. In my perspective, it's as brilliant and beautiful as everything else Our Man has done. I think that because Leonard is so incredibly deep, we ordinary mortals need multiple listenings before we are able to realize the true depth of some of his art (at least that's what I find) - actually, I think it will take multiple lifetimes to plummet some of those depths - and we still probably won't penetrate anywhere near the entirety of it . . .

Ten New Songs may be a little deceiving at first, because the presentation is softer, with apparently less of an "edge", in the musical arrangements; but when I listened more deeply, I found the same gorgeous, intricate, ironic, prophetic, complex, brilliant Leonard. . .

Wow, I can't believe that anyone would think that 'Ten New Songs' is anything less than brilliant. I know this thread has its origins way back. I remember being dazzled by Leonard back on Boogie Street, when I had pretty much resigned myself to him probably being lost to us forever. I have not changed my opinion since I first heard it, a masterpiece, he showed was still 100 floors above the rest.

I have written about this somewhere previously but this newly reposted thread, reminded me of my first experience with Ten New Songs--around 2001, when having wandered away from Leonard for awhile, I purchased and began to play this cd. I felt as though Leonard had never left me and that, what's more, his and my spiritual paths had crossed and brought my connection to him back with a force I could not have imagined. I did not realize that this was a collaboration with Sharon Robinson at the time and mistakenly imagined that it was Anjani Thomas. However, my lapses in understanding and information were soon to be rectified, as it was shortly after that I came across this website, due to a profound desire to write to Leonard and to thank him for doing what he does. What a surprise to find this community of Leonard Cohen fans! And what a blessing.

st theresa wrote:. . . when having wandered away from Leonard for awhile, I purchased and began to play this cd. I felt as though Leonard had never left me and that, what's more, his and my spiritual paths had crossed and brought my connection to him back with a force I could not have imagined.

st. theresa, well said. . . I've had the same experience of wandering away (not because of anything to do with Leonard, but due solely to life circumstance); and each time I came back to Leonard (or he came back to me?) - wow - he penetrated my mind & pierced my heart more intensely than ever, and the intensity not only stays, but continues to grow! I am just increasingly blown away by the power & intensity of the experience - being mesmerized, more & more, by every detail of everything he does, and everything he is. . . the beauty is beyond anything I've ever known. Thank you forever, Leonard, for being the wondrous being that you are. And thank you, Jarkko, & everyone in the forum, for sharing your love for Leonard. . .

Ten New Songs is different but seems to complete a cycle from the layered symbolism of the first 3 albums and now into a deceptive zen-like simplicity. There are just as many diamonds in the simple lyrics of 10 New, but the unwary may be fooled by their economy into overlooking those gems.

I have never been able to say which is my favourite album, because it changes all the time, but Ten New Songs was the first actual album or Leonard's that I purchased, (technical first was the Essential but that I count as a compilation) and well it may have been because I was at a certain age and it got me early enough, (I was 15) or may have been a combination of other factors but well I was totally taken aback by this album, it was after all a hell of a lot different to what most of my contempories were listening to, and indeed even three years on it is still a lot different t what they are listening to.

It spoke to me of a deeper world, things that I couldn't express at the time due to my lack of experience, but things that seemed to make the world full of promise, it was like an article of faith, as if the album said, "this is is not all that we are" and opened a window to something beyond the normal, the "secret life" where the universal is personal. It helped a lot with my adolescent feelings of alienation shall we say.

Certain songs have also been able to clarify things that I was feeling, "Land of Plenty, Alexandra Leaving" and explain things that I was told were important but could never quite "Get" ie "Rivers Dark". The album as a whole soothed me through a lot of crises, not major perhaps in all cases, but well lets be honest when you're sixteen every crisis is the end of the world.

I have since collected all of Leonard's albums and all of the books as well, took me an age to find parasites of heaven, and listen to them regularly and all aspects of his career interest me, though funnily enough and strangely enough considereing that Everybody Knows was the song that got me hooked onto Leonard, the I'm Your Man album and in large parts The Future, are the albums that I like least of his catalogue.

Anyway sorry for the rambling post,

you never have to tell me what it is you really think of me, I'll just say I'mdoing fine, but do I have to dance all night. -Leonard Cohen

It is definitely not a rambling post, but a post that is insightful and laden with true feelings. I am amazed that with your introduction to LC being 'Everybody Knows', that instead of your focusing on IYM or 'The Future' you have delved into the depths of LC with your appreciation of TNS. It takes many a very long time to be able to open their heart and soul to this CD and embrace it. You found it very quickly and I applaud your ability to absorb the complexity of this piece.

I have been pondering the poetry of some of these 'Ten New Songs' on a different thread on this forum.
You may like to visit my (and others)remarks on the link below.
Please add your own interpretations/thoughts/ideas if you feel inclined.

mrksem454 wrote:The most beautiful, relaxing, soothing songs. Definitely my favourite Cohen album too. Utter perfection for me in both music and lyrics. This album is so sad because, It tells us that Time has no Mercy and that the compositions are penned by an old and worn-out man.

I agree with your first comments ("beautiful," etc), but I must say that, having seen Leonard perform live last year, he is anything but "old and worn out" (and, based on the three brand new songs he played last year, the man still "has it"!).

One may interpret the songs on Ten New Songs as having a certain melancholy about them, but I like to think of it more as a man who is at peace with the world, and who accepts the way things are, even if those things are not perfect nor rosy.

Cheers! (And, I'm really glad you love the album, because it is magnificent!)

Sorry, but I have to jump in here - "old & worn-out"??!! I was more "old & worn out" at 15 than Leonard Cohen is at 75!!! (How many cities all over the world has he performed in during the past couple of years?!)

Ten New Songs, in my view, is the exquisite product of an extremely vibrant, fertile, energetic, brilliant artistic mind, that is ALIVE as it ever was!!! I do perceive very deep sorrow in some of these songs, but if sorrow is a sign of being old & worn out, then I have known some 6 year old children who were old & worn out. Actually, the ability to really feel the sorrow in one's heart, is in itself a rare skill. The ability to express it in such articulate, sensitive, powerful, brilliant, musical, poetic ways, that hearing it melts the iron & rocks within the hearts of many thousands of listeners, & causes the "rivers to rise up" & the mountains to "shout Amen" - well, only the very vibrant & virile Leonard Cohen can do that!!